Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$41.48 and last traded at C$41.42, with a volume of 85315 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$41.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EMP.A has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Empire from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$43.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. National Bankshares boosted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Empire from C$41.00 to C$42.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on Empire from C$40.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Empire has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$43.14.

Empire Stock Up 0.8 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is C$39.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$36.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Empire

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total transaction of C$199,868.50. In related news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 3,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$40.26, for a total transaction of C$147,252.79. Also, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total value of C$199,868.50. Insiders sold a total of 13,033 shares of company stock worth $526,583 over the last ninety days. 2.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Empire Company Profile

Empire Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the food retail and related real estate businesses in Canada. It operates through two segments, Food Retailing, and Investments and Other Operations. The company owns, affiliates, and franchises approximately 1,500 retail stores under various retail banners, including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, and Lawtons Drugs; and approximately 350 retail fuel locations.